Better home support spending sought

The rationalisation of home-support services that saw
Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) dumped as a provider will
help prevent further budget overspending in disability
support, a Southern District Health Board committee heard
yesterday.

The disability support committee briefly discussed a $600,000
cost overrun in disability support services in December
against a budget of $10.82 million. It was mainly due to an
increase in home support personal care provision, and to a
lesser degree, increased rest-home and hospital costs.
Finance and funding executive director Robert Mackway-Jones
said the new service model would increase ''effectiveness of
spending'' on home-based services. It would help keep people
in their own homes, he said.

The new system, to be phased in from next month, will see
three providers delivering a ''restorative'' model, designed
to increase independence.

The board was also improving or introducing unrelated
programmes designed to increase the independence of older
people, he said.

The home-based support service provider changes were also
flagged for discussion in the public-excluded section of the
committee meeting. Today, PSO could seek an interim legal
injunction against the health board's decision to exclude it
from the new service, depending on the outcome of its appeal
to the full board this morning. PSO will also present a
petition with more than 13,000 signatures.

The meeting is at 10am, at Wakari Hospital, in Dunedin.

The board yesterday released the home-based support service
request for proposal (RFP), but declined to release tender
documents, citing commercial considerations. The RFP shows
tenderers were asked to quote a unit price for several client
types, and specify whether their prices would change
depending on the number of providers chosen. This was for
information purposes, given the system was bulk-funded, the
document said.

The annual budget for the service was $13 million, of which
the board would retain 10% in a contingency fund. Contracts
would last five years.

The Otago Daily Times has also requested a copy of the
report to board members, a response on which is due by
February 19.